Springsteen Crowd: 2 Gates For 70,000

Promoters of the Aug. 9 Bruce Springsteen concert at Soldier Field said Thursday that only two entrances will be open for the 70,000 fans at the general admission show.

Officials of the Chicago Park District and Jam Productions insisted that concerns voiced by Springsteen fans that a rush for spots near the stage could cause injuries were unfounded. Famed rock promoter Bill Graham also predicted the concert wouldn`t create major problems.

Concert promoter Jerry Mickelson, executive vice president of Jam, said one entrance on each side of the stadium will open at 5:30 p.m. for the scheduled 7:30 p.m. start of the hotly anticipated concert. There will be several turnstiles at each entrance, he said. Fans won`t be allowed to camp overnight on the Soldier Field grounds.

Forty to 50 park district security officers and 300 private security officers and ushers hired by Jam will be on hand to control the massive crowd. Chicago police officers will also provide security.

Chicago Park District Supt. Edmund Kelly said Springsteen ``attracts a crowd that is consistently orderly. We feel very comfortable that we`ve done everything imaginable to protect the spectators and that it will go off in an orderly fashion.``

But the concerns of Springsteen fans, who have objected to the general admission policy since it was announced last week, were echoed by Cincinnati Police Capt. Dale Mankhaus, who headed the police detail at a 1979 Who concert where 11 people died.

``The potential is there to have major problems,`` Mankhaus said.

``Festival seating is playing with dynamite.

``What I learned from the experience we had in Cincinnati and from visiting other cities was that when you have festival seating for an extremely popular group, . . . it`s a real challenge to see who gets the best seats in the house. As soon as those doors open, it`s going to be a race. Anything can happen at that point.``

At the Cincinnati concert, Mankhaus said, 12,000 people were waiting for gates to open when a stampede of fans caused many to be trampled. The tragedy was caused by ``too many people with too few doors that were open too late.`` Springsteen drew as many as 100,000 fans to recent concerts in Europe without major incidents.

``Ushers will be at the gates to be sure there isn`t a stampede,`` said Ben Bentley, park district spokesman. ``A lot of people are apprehensive, particularly parents whose children are going. But we will have it under full control.``

The last general admission concert at Soldier Field was held in 1978 when 75,000 people heard the Rolling Stones. At that concert, 60 people were injured and a 27-year-old man died when he fell over a railing and plunged 20 feet to the ground.

Mickelson rejected comparisons of the coming Springsteen show with the Who concert in Cincinnati.

``I don`t think anybody can compare Cincinnati to what we do in Chicago. There are different promoters and different buildings. The building and the promoter were as much responsible for what happened in Cincinnati as anything else,`` Mickelson said. ``The police, the park district and Jam are really concerned that we do things right.``

Mickelson said doors would open at 5:30 p.m. because that is when Jam expects most people to arrive for the concert.